POLITICS WITH A HINT OF ROYALTY

SAMBHAJIRAJE WILL HAVE TO CREATE ROOM IN MAHARASHTRA’S CROWDED POLITICAL FIELD

- Dhaval Kulkarni

The crowded political arena in Maharashtra just got a little more so with Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, the scion of the royal family of Kolhapur, announcing his intent to contest the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections due in 2024. He has converted his social organisation, ‘Swarajya’, into a political party of the same name. At a convention of his outfit in Pune on May 28, and amidst slogans like “Maharashtra ka mukhyamantri kaisa ho? Sambhajiraje jaisa ho”, the ex-royal attacked the established political parties for retreating from sectors like education, public health and cooperatives. He promised to “give a different direction to society and Maharashtra”.

This is the first time someone with a major royal connection in Maharashtra—Sambhajiraje is the 13th descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji—is floating his own party. However, erstwhile royals and feudals like Udayanraje Bhosale and his cousin Shivendraraje Bhosale (both BJP), who represent the Satara branch of Shivaji’s descendants, and over a dozen others are already part of mainstream parties.

Sambhajiraje’s presence could affect the fortunes of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and, by extension, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance as he may walk away with a section of the Maratha vote in regions like Marathwada and Nashik. As one of the faces of the protests seeking quotas for the dominant Maratha community, the former Rajya Sabha MP (nominated) has a base among the Maratha youth in Marathwada, an area infamous for agrarian distress. MVA leaders, however, say it’s the ruling BJP that will take a dent as some of their young pro-Hindutva voters would be swayed by the ex-royal’s connection to Shivaji.